...in more ways than one. Preface to say that it has turned cold recently. I got home from work yesterday to be greeted by the wife complaining that she could not get the house above 73 all day. She decided that the problem was a buildup of ashes and so gave up trying and let the fire die down so that I could remove some ashes.
Now, I do concur that with my stove, less ashes means more heat but in this case I was calling it "pilot error" and so ignored her prognosis. I shoved the ashes to the back of the stove, raked the coals forward, and proceeded to get a nice fire going. This of course was met with some disdain from SWMBO.
Enter less is more #2. Again, this may be specific to my particular stove but none the less, I proved my hypothesis that too much air nets less heat. After I got the fire back closer to critical mass, I choked down the air way lower than she had it all day. Low and behold, the house jumped up to 75 in no time and stayed there all evening despite the outdoor temp falling.
That said, this morning I removed a pail full of ashes and had a nice hot fire going for her when she got up. A happy wife is a happy life. Of course now I need to quickly get the house back up to 75.
Now, I do concur that with my stove, less ashes means more heat but in this case I was calling it "pilot error" and so ignored her prognosis. I shoved the ashes to the back of the stove, raked the coals forward, and proceeded to get a nice fire going. This of course was met with some disdain from SWMBO.
Enter less is more #2. Again, this may be specific to my particular stove but none the less, I proved my hypothesis that too much air nets less heat. After I got the fire back closer to critical mass, I choked down the air way lower than she had it all day. Low and behold, the house jumped up to 75 in no time and stayed there all evening despite the outdoor temp falling.
That said, this morning I removed a pail full of ashes and had a nice hot fire going for her when she got up. A happy wife is a happy life. Of course now I need to quickly get the house back up to 75.